According to Margaret Welch, director of the Color Association of the United States, comfort reds, such as raspberry, are coming back to women's fashion for spring 2002, and this fall has set the stage with accessories, makeup and luxury items. She points out that the following leading trend items are all berry hot:

Car culture: Mercedes-Benz SLK320 has introduced a mauve color for the convertible.

In other bubbly news: Fidget, the quarterly magazine covering fashion, art, music and design, has launched an edition dedicated solely to the subject of champagne.

Sponsored by Taittinger (but of course!), the issue is a collaboration of artists and designers who have made champagne the subject of their work. Each edition is a beautifully printed set of oversized cards, shrink-wrapped together and packaged inside a champagne gold bubble box, limited to 3,000 copies. Included is the work of artists Francesca Sorrentu and Jeffrey Fulvimari as well as designers Jeremy Scott, Bob Mackie and Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The "champagne" issue will be launched in January and is priced at $45. It will be available through fidgetmagazine.com.